Mobile industrial rack system

ABSTRACT

A mobile industrial rack system which includes a flue spacer, a carriage spacer, and a synchronous motor control that individually and collectively allows the rack system to be used on unleveled surfaces. The industrial rack system is therefore well suited for storage facilities in which it is not possible or not desired to level an otherwise unleveled floor.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to industrial storage systemsand, more particularly, to a mobile industrial rack system for use onunleveled flooring.

Industrial rack systems are commonly used in storage facilities to storeproducts until those products are shipped either directly to a consumeror to a retailer. Typically, the industrial racks store loaded palletsthat are placed on and removed from the racks using a forklift. Theindustrial racks are spaced from one another in a manner to formrelatively wide aisles to allow sufficient room for the forklift to loadand remove the pallets. Since each industrial rack has a fixed position,each industrial rack must have a dedicated aisle. Moreover, since eachaisle is typically as wide, if not wider than, the rack itself, morethan half the floor space occupied by the industrial rack system may beoccupied by aisles and thus not usable for product storage.

Mobile industrial rack systems, however, are designed to reduce thenumber of fixed aisles and, as a result, increase the amount of floorspace used for product storage. More particularly, in a typicalconfiguration, a single aisle may be allocated for the entire industrialrack system. The position of that single aisle can be changed by movingthe industrial racks along a track or rail that is mounted or otherwisesecured to the storage facility flooring, which is typically a concreteslab. While in some configurations each industrial rack is movedindependently, it is common for back-to-back industrial racks to becoupled using a rigid flue spacer connector and moved as a single unitby a single mobile carriage supporting both racks. To access a forwardrack of a given back-to-back configuration, the racks are moved suchthat an aisle is formed immediately forward of the back-to-backconfiguration. To access a rearward rack of the given back-to-backconfiguration, the racks are moved such that an aisle is formedimmediately rearward of the back-to-back configuration. Mobileindustrial rack systems provide nearly twice the storage capacity of asimilarly sized fixed rack system.

Conventional mobile industrial rack systems must be mounted on a levelfloor such that the heavy loading of the industrial racks does notcreate an undesired imbalance as the racks are being moved. Thus, in atypical implementation, the existing concrete floor of a storagefacility, which is generally not level within the specificationsrequired for the mobile industrial rack system, must be leveled byapplying a thin coat of concrete material to the concrete floor. Therails along which the racks move are then anchored through the thin coatof concrete material and to the concrete floor. Alternately, footingsmay be anchored to the concrete floor and the rails anchored through thefootings to the concrete floor. When footings are used, grout or similarmaterial is typically placed between the rails and the concrete floor.In both instances, measures must be taken to provide a level surface forthe rails along which the racks move, which are generally quite costly,.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a mobile industrial rack systemusable on unleveled flooring surfaces. The mobile rack system includes aflue spacer connector having a play feature that allows the industrialracks arranged in a back-to-back configuration to move relative to oneanother when the back-to-back configuration is being moved across anunleveled floor surface.

The present invention is also directed to a mobile industrial racksystem in which industrial racks of a back-to-back configuration areindependently supported by a respective carriage. The pair of carriagesis coupled to another by a carriage spacer that allows the carriages tomove independently of one another while maintaining a union of the twocarriages.

The present invention is also directed to a mobile industrial rack inwhich an industrial rack is translated by a series of carriages eachhaving a motor driven roller. An encoder is associated with each motorand provides feedback to a synchronous motor control that adjusts thespeed by which each motor drives its respective roller. In this regard,the motors are controlled independently, but are synchronized such thateach motor drives its roller at approximately the same speed.

Therefore, in accordance with one aspect of the invention, a mobileindustrial rack system includes a first industrial rack and a secondindustrial rack. A mobile carriage is adapted to ride along a rail andsupport the first industrial rack and the second industrial rack. A fluespacer interconnects the first industrial rack and the second industrialrack and allows the first industrial rack and the second industrial rackto move relative to another when the mobile carriage translates alongthe rail.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a mobile industrialrack system includes a rail adapted to be mounted to a concrete slab, afirst industrial rack adapted to support a load such as a plurality ofpallets, and a second industrial rack adapted to support a load such asa plurality of pallets. A flue spacer interconnects the first industrialrack and the second industrial rack to form a back-to-backconfiguration. A first mobile carriage is adapted to ride along the railand support the first industrial rack, and a second mobile carriage isadapted to ride along the rail and support the second industrial rack. Acarriage spacer interconnects the first mobile carriage and the secondmobile carriage and is adapted to allow the first and second carriagesto move independently of one another when the racks are translatedtogether along the rail.

According to another aspect of the invention, a mobile industrial racksystem includes a series of rails arranged parallel to and spaced fromone another along a concrete slab. An industrial rack is designed to betranslated along the rails by first and second motors. A synchronousmotor control is communicatively linked with the first and second motorsto synchronize operation of the first and second motors.

Other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent to those skilled in the art from the following detaileddescription and accompanying drawings. It should be understood, however,that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicatingpreferred embodiments of the present invention, are given by way ofillustration and not of limitation. Many changes and modifications maybe made within the scope of the present invention without departing fromthe spirit thereof, and the invention includes all such modifications.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawings illustrate the best mode presently contemplated forcarrying out the invention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a representative embodiment of a mobileindustrial rack system incorporating the features of the presentinvention;

FIG. 1A is top schematic plan view of the mobile industrial rack systemof FIG. 1;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of a carriage incorporated into the mobileindustrial rack system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation view of the carriage shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a section view of the carriage taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a section view of the carriage taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is an end view of a surface mounted rail incorporated into themobile industrial rack system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is an isometric view of a flue spacer incorporated into themobile industrial rack system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a side elevation view of the flue spacer shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is an isometric view of a carriage spacer incorporated into themobile industrial rack system shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 9A is an exploded view of the carriage spacer shown in FIG. 9; and

FIG. 10 is a schematic representation of a synchronous motor controlincorporated into the mobile industrial rack system shown in FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 1A, a mobile industrial rack system 10 iscomprised of a series of industrial racks 12 that are movable along aseries of spaced and parallel rails 14. The industrial racks 12 arearranged in pairs so as to form multiple back-to-back configurations 16,with each back-to-back configuration 16 having a forward rack 12 a and arearward rack 12 b, and being movable as a single unit. Eachback-to-back configuration 16 is associated with a control interface 18that controls movement of the industrial racks 12 along the rails 14.Either through an input directly to the control interface 18 or usingsuitable remote controls, the back-to-back configurations 16 can betranslated along the rails 14 to move the location of an aisle 20between adjacent back-to-back configurations 16, based on the industrialrack 12 that is to be accessed. In a preferred embodiment, the racks 12are moved such that aisle 20 is sufficiently wide to accommodate aforklift 22. One skilled in the art will appreciate that if the forwardrack 12 a of a back-to-back configuration 16 is to be accessed, theindustrial racks 12 are moved such that aisle 20 is formed immediatelyforward of the forward rack 12 a. On the other hand, if the rearwardrack 12 b of the back-to-back configuration 16 is to be accessed, theindustrial racks 12 are moved such that aisle 20 is formed immediatelyrearward of the rearward rack 12 b.

Additionally, in a preferred embodiment, the mobile industrial racksystem 10 may include a pair of stationary industrial racks 24 thatbookend the movable industrial racks 12, as shown in FIG. 1A. Thestationary industrial racks 24 are aligned with rails 14 but do nottranslate along the rails 14. One skilled in the art will appreciatethat stationary industrial racks 24 may be mounted proximate a wall (notshown) such that access to the racks 24 is available only if an aisle 20is formed between a stationary rack 24 and a movable rack 12 or,alternately, each stationary rack 24 may be positioned such that anaisle (not shown) is formed between the stationary rack 24 and the wall.

Each industrial rack 12, 24 is comprised of vertical posts 26 ofgenerally equal height connected to one another by a series of bars 28.In a preferred implementation, each industrial rack 12, 24 will includemultiple sets of bars 28 that are connected to the vertical posts 26such that multiple storage bays 30 are defined for each industrial rack12, 24. In a preferred embodiment, each storage bay 30 is adapted tosupport a load such as at least one pallet (not shown).

Referring now to FIG. 2, each movable industrial rack 12 is translatedalong rail 14 by a carriage that includes a series of carriage driveunits 32, each of which includes a drive roller 34 and a driven roller36. Each carriage drive unit 32 further includes a pair of supportmembers 38 of length generally equal to the depth of the industrial rackthat it supports. The support members 38 couple to two vertical posts 26using a suitable connection. In addition to being joined indirectlythrough the coupling of the vertical posts 26, the support members areinterconnected by a drive roller axle 40 and a driven roller axle 42. Ina manner as is known, the carriage drive units 32 are secured togetherby a suitable frame structure the supports the industrial racks 12.

As further shown in FIG. 3, the drive roller 34 includes a drive wheel44 that is caused to rotate about axle 40 by a belt and gear assembly46. The belt and gear assembly 46 includes a gear 48 centered about axle40 and designed to rotate in either a clockwise or counterclockwisedirection based on the translational direction of belt 50. Alternately,belt 50 may be a chain. The belt 50 is trained about gear 48 and a drivegear 52 that is centered about drive shaft 54. When drive shaft 54 iscaused to rotate, the drive gear 52 also rotates and translates belt 50about its trained path thereby causing drive wheel 44 to rotate and thustravel along rail 14. The drive shaft 54 is caused to rotate by a motorassembly 56.

Referring back to FIG. 2, the driven roller 36 includes a driven wheel58 that, in a preferred embodiment, is not forcibly driven like drivewheel 44 of the drive roller. In this regard, driven wheel 58 is notdirectly caused to rotate, but will only rotate when the carriage driveunit 32 as a whole is caused to move by rotation of drive wheel 44.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 4-6, rail 14 includes a base plate 60 that,in a preferred embodiment, is anchored to the floor 62 using suitableanchors 64, such as concrete screws. In this embodiment, the rail 14 issurface mounted to the floor 62; although it is contemplated that rail14 could be recessed mounted. In a preferred embodiment, the uppersurface of the base plate 60 is shaped to define a pair of end sections66 and a center section 68. A pair of channels 70 are defined betweenend sections 66 and the center section 68. The channels 70 are designedto mirror the tread pattern of wheels 44, 58. More particularly, eachwheel 44, 58 has a tread pattern 72, 74, respectively, defined by acentered recess 76, 78, respectively, formed between a pair of flanges80, 82, respectively. The flanges 80, 82 are designed to ride along thechannel 70 and the centered recesses 76, 78 are designed to ride alongthe center section 68 of rail 14.

As further shown in FIG. 4, the driven wheel 58 is coupled in a knownway to a hub 84 defining a central bore 86 through which axle 42 extendsbetween the pair of support members 38. Axle spacers 87 position thedriven wheel 58 between the pair of support members 38. As further shownin FIG. 5, the drive wheel 44 also has a hub 88 defining a central bore90 through which axle 40 extends between support members 38. Gear 48 issupported by a gear plate 92 that is mounted to an exterior surface ofdrive wheel 44 and is designed to rotate around axle 40. Axle spacers 93position the drive wheel 44 between support members 38. Gear 48 furtherincludes a pair of pins 94 that interconnect the gear 48 and the drivewheel 44. The interconnection couples the gear 48 and the drive wheel 44to one another so that rotation of the gear 48 by belt 50 causesrotation of the drive wheel 44.

Referring now to FIGS. 7-8, a flue spacer 96 according to one aspect ofthe invention is shown interconnecting the forward rack 12 a and therearward rack 12 b of a back-to-back configuration 16. The flue spacer96 includes a forward mounting plate 98 a and a rearward mounting plate98 b. The forward mounting plate 98 a is coupled to a vertical post 26of the forward rack 12 a and the rearward mounting plate 98 b is coupledto a vertical post 26 of the rearward rack 12 b using suitableconnectors (not shown), such as bolts. Each mounting plate 98 a, 98 bcarries an extension member 100 a, 100 b, respectively, that is sizedsuch that extension member 100 a at least partially shrouds extensionmember 100 b. In this regard, extension member 100 a is designed toslide within extension member 100 b.

Extension member 100 a has a vertical slot 102 whereas extension member100 b has a horizontal slot 104. When the extension members 100 a, 100 bare properly aligned, a portion of the vertical slot 102 is aligned withhorizontal slot 104 such that bolt 106 may extend through the verticalslot 102 and the horizontal slot 104 along an axis that is transverse toboth the vertical slot 102 and the horizontal slot 104.

More particularly, extension member 100 a includes a top plate 108 and apair of downwardly extending side plates 110; only one of which isvisible in the figures. The vertical slot 102 is formed in one of theside plates 100 whereas a second vertical slot (not shown) aligned withvertical slot 102 is formed in the other of the side plates. Extensionmember 100 b also includes a top plate 112 and a pair of downwardlyextending side plates 114, with each side plate 114 having a horizontalslot 104 formed therein. Bolt 106 has a length sufficient to extendthrough the horizontal slot 104 of each side plate 114.

In operation, the flue spacer 96 is designed to allow relative movementof the industrial racks 12 a, 12 b when the industrial racks 12 a, 12 bare moved along an uneven surface. Specifically, as the forward rack 12a is moved in the forward direction and encounters an area of rail 14that is on a non-level portion of the underlying floor, the forward rack12 a will experience an angular displacement relative to the rearwardrack 12 b. The flue spacer 96 allows the forward rack 12 a to play intwo different directions relative to the rearward rack 12 b as a resultof the change in floor incline. More particularly, the vertical slot 102allows the forward rack 12 a to ride upward relative to the rearwardrack 12 b as a result of the change in floor incline. Thus, extensionmember 100 a will move upward relative to bolt 106.

Additionally, the flue spacer 96 will permit the forward rack 12 a toslide forward or rearward relative to the rearward spacer 12 b. Moreparticularly, the extension member 100 a may slide along the top plate112 and side plates 114 of extension member 100 b without the extensionsmembers 100 a, 100 b disconnecting from one another. The bolt 106extending through the vertical and horizontal slots 102, 104 maintainsthe interconnection of the extension members 100 a, 100 b and thus racks12 a, 12 b but allows a limited displacement or play of the racks 12 a,12 b relative to one another. The ends of the slots 102, 104 define therange of relative vertical and horizontal movement between the racks 12a, 12 b, to accommodate a desired degree of angular displacement betweenthe racks 12 a, 12 b.

Flue spacers such as 96 are provided on selected ones of posts 26 and atone or more locations along the height of the posts 26, according to thelength and height of the industrial racks 12, in order to securelymaintain the racks together when the racks 12 are moved together in aback-to-back configuration 16.

Referring now to FIGS. 9 and 9A, the racks 12 a, 12 b of a back-to-backconfiguration 16 are also joined by a carriage spacer 116 that includesa pair of braces 118 arranged parallel to another with a pin connection120 interconnected therebetween. The carriage spacer 116 is mounted in aconventional manner to carriage drive unit 32 of the forward industrialrack 12 a and the carriage drive unit 32 of the rearward rack 12 b. Asillustrated in FIG. 9, mounting brackets 122 are interconnected betweenthe carriage spacer 116 and the carriage drive units 32. The mountingbrackets 122 include legs 124 that are designed to mate against thelower surface of a vertical post 26 and secured to the vertical post 26by inserting bolts (not shown) through holes (not shown) formed in thevertical post 26 that are aligned with slots 126 formed in the legs 124.

Referring particularly to FIG. 9A, braces 118 are each comprised of apair of wall members 128, a top plate 130, and a bottom plate 132. Holes134, which are aligned with one another, extend through the pair of wallmembers 128. The braces 118 are both fastened in a known way to endplate 136 that is fastened to the mobile carriage drive unit 32 of therearward rack 12 b. The carriage spacer 116 further includes a mountingplate 138 that is fastened in a known way to the carriage drive unit 32of the forward rack 12 a. The mounting plate 138 has a pair ofprojections 140 each of which is defined by a narrow plate 142 having ahole 144 formed therethrough. When assembled, the mounting plate 138 ispositioned relative to the braces 118 such that holes 134 and 144 arealigned. Pivot pin 146 is then inserted through both sets of holes 134,144 and retained therethrough by ring 147. The pivot pin 146 provides apivot against which the racks 12 a, 12 b may move relative to anotherwhen the racks 12 a, 12 b are being moved along rail 14.

In a preferred embodiment, holes 144 are slightly larger and moreelongated than holes 134. Thus, holes 144 effectively form slots inwhich the pivot pin 146 may move vertically relative to the mountingplate 138 when the racks 12 a, 12 b are being moved in the rearwarddirection. Alternately, holes 144 allow the mounting plate 138 to moverelative to the pivot pin 146 when the racks 12 a, 12 b are being movedin the forward direction. Thus, when variations in the incline of thefloor are encountered, the carriage spacer 116 will maintain connectionof the back-to-back racks 12 a, 12 b but permit limited displacement soas to reduce the impact of the unleveled floor.

In a preferred embodiment, each back-to-back configuration 16 will havemultiple carriage drive units 32 to translate the racks along rails 14.As described above, each carriage includes a drive wheel and a driven orfollower wheel; although, it is contemplated that each wheel may bemotor driven. Each motor driven wheel is driven independently by adedicated motor; however, in a preferred embodiment, the operation ofeach motor is synchronized so that the motors for a given back-to-backconfiguration 16 operate at approximately the same speed.

As shown in FIG. 10, each motor assembly 56 includes a drive shaft 148driven by a motor 150. Each motor 150 includes an encoder 152 thatcounts rotations of the motor 150. The encoder counts are provided to anencoder interface 154 that outputs the encoder counts to control board156. The control board 156 associated with each motor assembly 56includes software that causes a processor 158 to compare the encodercount value of each motor 150 and then provide command signals to themotor 150 to synchronize motor speed for all the motors 150 for a givenrack 12 or back-to-back configuration 16. More particularly, eachprocessor 158 compares the encoder count for each motor and adjustsoperation of its associated motor 150 such that the encoder countdifferential between motors approaches zero. The encoder count valuesare communicated between processors 158 through a high-speed link 160.Thus, while the motors 150 are controlled independently, their operationis synchronized to reduce racking or skewing during translation of theracks 12 over an unleveled surface.

While the present invention has been described with respect toindustrial racks, it is understood that the invention may also be usedin other mobile rack systems where it is desirable to account for,rather than replace or modify, an unleveled floor. Additionally, whilethe invention has been described with respect to an industrial racksystem having flue spacers, carriage spacers, and a synchronous motorcontrol, it is understood that these structural components operateindependent of another and thus a given rack system may incorporate lessthan all these features to account for an unleveled floor. Also, it isunderstood that the rack system may include other features notspecifically described herein to provide additional rack stability suchas load distribution sensors, tip rails, and the like.

Many changes and will modifications could be made to the inventionwithout departing from the spirit thereof. The scope of these changeswill become apparent from the appended claims.

1. A mobile rack system comprising: a first rack; a second rack; amobile carriage adapted to ride along a rail and support the first rackand the second rack; and a flue spacer interconnecting the first rackand the second rack, the flue spacer adapted to allow the first rack andthe second rack to move relative to another when the mobile carriagetranslates along the rail.
 2. The mobile rack system of claim 1 whereinthe flue spacer is further adapted to allow relative movement of thefirst and the second racks in at least two directions.
 3. The mobilerack system of claim 2 wherein the at least two directions includes alateral direction and a vertical direction.
 4. The mobile rack system ofclaim 1 wherein the flue spacer includes a first mounting member coupledto the first rack, a second mounting member coupled to the second rack,a first extension connected to the first mounting member, and a secondextension connected to the second mounting member, wherein the firstextension is interfit in the second extension in a manner that allowsthe first extension to slide along a first axis within the secondextension.
 5. The mobile rack system of claim 4 wherein the secondextension partially shrouds the first extension in a manner that allowsthe second extension to move along a second axis transverse to the firstaxis.
 6. The mobile rack system of claim 5 wherein the first extensionhas a laterally extending slot and the second extension has a verticallyextending slot aligned with the laterally extending slot, and the fluespacer further includes a pin extending through both the laterallyextending slot and the vertically extending slot along an axis that istransverse to the first and the second extensions.
 7. The mobile racksystem of claim 1 wherein each mobile carriage includes a pair of wheelsadapted to ride along the rail.
 8. The mobile rack system of claim 7wherein each wheel has a contour matched to that of the rail.
 9. Themobile rack system of claim 8 wherein the tread pattern includes a pairof flanges spaced to form a channel therebetween.
 10. The mobile racksystem of claim 7 further comprising a motor that drives the wheel and amotor controller that controls operation of the motor.
 11. The mobileindustrial rack system of claim 10 further comprising a synchronousmotor control and wherein the motor controller provides feedbackregarding operation of the motor to the synchronous motor control whichin turn controls the motor controller based on the feedback.
 12. Amobile rack system comprising: a rail adapted to be mounted to a floor;a first rack adapted to support a load; a second rack adapted to supporta load; a flue spacer interconnecting the first rack and the secondrack; and a first mobile carriage adapted to ride along the rail andsupport the first rack and a second mobile carriage adapted to ridealong the rail and support the second rack, each mobile carriageincluding a carriage spacer interconnecting the first mobile carriageand the second mobile carriage in a manner that allows the carriages tomove independently of one another when the racks are translated alongthe rail.
 13. The mobile rack system of claim 12 wherein the rail isfurther adapted to be surface mounted directly on the floor.
 14. Themobile rack system of claim 12 wherein the carriage spacer is furtheradapted to allow the first and second mobile carriages to moveindependently of one another when the racks are translated along therail over portions of the floor that are not level.
 15. The mobile racksystem of claim 12 wherein the flue spacer is adapted to allow the firstrack and the second rack to move independently of one another.
 16. Themobile rack system of claim 15 wherein the flue spacer is adapted toallow the first rack and the second rack to move relative to anotheralong a first axis parallel to the rail and a second axis transverse tothe first axis.
 17. A mobile rack system comprising: a series of railsarranged parallel to and spaced from one another along a floor; an rack;first and second motors operative to translate the rack along the seriesof rails; and a synchronous motor control communicatively linked withthe first and second motors to synchronize operating speed of the firstand second motors.
 18. The rack system of claim 17 further comprisingfirst and second carriages supporting first and second racks, eachcarriage including a wheel mounted to a shaft that is caused to berotated by a motor and an encoder that counts rotations of the shaft.19. The rack system of claim 18 wherein each motor includes a motorcontroller that provides an encoder count to the synchronous motorcontrol that controls operation of the first and second motors based onthe encoder counts.
 20. The rack system of claim 17 wherein the seriesof rails are adapted to be surface mounted to the floor.